Vending-machine.



No. 674,60I.

4 Sheets--Sheet I.

(No Nodal.)

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v No. $74.60!.

Patented May 2|, I901. D. E. CODY. VENDING MAGHiNE.

(Application filed Dec. 27, 1900.)

4 Sheets-Sheet 2 gzz/k/r w (No Model.)

No. 674,60l Patented May 2|. 190i. 0. E. 000v.

VENDING MACHINE.

(Application filed Dec. 2"! 1900.

4 Sheets-Shaat 3..

(No Model.)

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No. 674,60l. Patented May 2!, I901.- D; E. CODY.

VENDING MACHINE. (Application flied Dec. 27, 1900.

(No Model.) 4 SheetsShe'et 4.

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THE Monms PETERS ca, mom-uruu. WASHINGTON, o, c

UNTTED STATES PATENT .FFICEa DON E. CODY, OF IVASIIINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR TO ELK MANUFACTURING AND VENDING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

VENDING-MACHINE.

SPECIFIGATIDN forming part of Letters .Patent No. 674.601, dated May 21, 1901.

Application fil d December 27. 1900. Serial No. 41,277. (No model.)

To all whom it Uta/y concern.-

Be it known that I, DON E. CODY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Washington, in the District of Columbia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Vending- Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to coin controlled vending-machines, and more particularly to that kind which are constructed with a view of vending cigars and similar articles.

It consists in a certain peculiar construction, the novelty, utility, and advantages of which will be fully understood from the following description and claims when'taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a perspective view of my improved machine. Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical central section of the machine. Fig. 3 is a section taken at right angles to Fig. 2 and in the plane indicated by the broken line 3 3 of said figure. Figs. 4 and 5 are detail horizontal sections taken in the planes indicated by the broken lines 4 4 and 5 5, respectively, of Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a rear elevation of the machine with the back wall of the case removed and portions of the side walls thereof in section. Figs. 7 and 8 are detail sections taken in the planes indicated by the broken lines 7 7 and 8 8, respectively, of Fig-6. Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the slide which operates to agitate the cigars and facilitate the discharge of the same. Fig. 10 comprises disconnected perspective views of the lower or cigar-ejecting slide and the upper slide, which moves the lower slide when a coin is interposed between the two. Fig. 11 is a perspective View of the bell-crank lever, which is loosely mounted on the crank-shaft, and has for its purpose to transmit motion from the upper slide to the agitator-slide, and vice versa; and Fig. 12 is a perspective view of one of the arms which are fixed on the crankshaft and engage the upper slide, so as to move said slide when the shaft is rotated.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all of the several views of i the drawings.

shown. It comprises, by preference, a front walla, having a sight-glass b and also having an inwardly-curved lower end portion 0, a bottom wall d, side walls 6, having vertical grooves f and also having inwardly-directed flanges g at their rear edges, a back wall 72, which is arranged within the flanges g and is designed to he removed by drawing it up wardly, and a top wall or cap 7 which is secured in its closed position by a suitable lock, the bolt of which is arranged to engage the front wall a and is provided with a coin-slot j. The top wall 2' serves, when locked to the front wall a, to efiectually prevent the removal of the back wall It.

A is a slidable money-drawer, which is arranged in the case and is provided with an inclined forward wall is, between which and the lower end of the front wall of the case is an opening Z for the exit of cigars. The said drawer is provided on its wall It with a stop m: for holding the discharged cigar until same is removed by the purchaser and T cured in its closed position bf, .1 vert" movable bolt n, arranged in suitable on one side wall of the case, as best shown in Fig. 2. The said bolt is disposed below the top wall orcap of the case, and hence follows that it cannot be raised to release the money-drawer until after the said top wall or cap is unlocked and removed.

B is a transverse partition-wall secured in the case parallel to the front wall aand having an opening 19 for the passage of cigars.

C is a cigar-supporting platform arranged below and in line with the throat D, formed between the partition-wall B and the casewall a.

E E are inclined ledges on the side walls e of the case, on which rests a cigar-box F, which has its front open and its lower end wall inclined, as illustrated, and G is the slide for preventing bridging of the cigars and facilitating the discharge of the same. This slide, which may be properly denominated an agitator-slide, comprises, by preference, a wall q, arranged against the transverse wall B, secured in the case, side walls or flanges s, which are disposed at right angles to and depend a considerable distance below the wall 11 and have ribst on the outer sides of their lower portions to move in the grooves fof the case, and a Weight which is interposed between and connected to the lower portions of the walls 8. The said weight, which is desig- 5 nated by u, is provided with a beveled upper side to facilitate the reception of cigars thereon after the manner shown in Fig. 2, and between it and the lower edge of the wall q is an opening Q) for the passage of cigars.

I0 H is the cigar-ejecting slide of the machine. This slide is provided at its forward end with a rectangular open frame w, designed to normally rest over the platform 0 and receive the lowermost cigar of a series in the throat I). At its rear end the said slide His provided with a notch 50, which is of a less length than the diameter of the coin by which the machine is designed to be operated. The slide is further provided at opposite sides of the said notch with apertures y, and adjacent to one of its side edges it has an aperture 2, for a purpose presently pointed out. 1

I is a slide disposed in guides in the side walls of the case and arranged above and parallel to the slide H, as shown. This latter slide has an opening a adjacent to its rear edge and of a length to permit the passage-of the coin by which the machine is to be controlled, and itvalso has a guide-tongue b,

which rises from the inner or forward wall of the aperture a, as shown. At opposite sides of the aperture a the slide I has notches c and apertures 01' for purposes presently point ed out.

5 J is atransverse crank-shaft journaled in the side walls 6 of the case and having a handle K at one end and outside of the case.

L L are arms fixed on the cran k-shaft and arranged in the apertures 01 of the slide I,

4.0 and M is a bell-crank loosely mounted on the crank-shaft J and having arms N arranged in the apertures y of the ejecting-slide H, and also having a forwardly-extending portion or portions P arranged below the lower end of 5 the slide G and adapted to move and be moved by the said slide after the manner hereinafter described.

The back wall h of the case is provided, as best shown in Fig. 3, with a coin-chute Q, a

portion of the wall of which is removed in order to enable a magnet R to catch and hold a piece of iron or the like deposited in the chute with a view of effecting a fraudulent operation of the machine. The said chute Q has its upper end arranged coincident with the slotj in the top 'Wall or cap of the case and its lower end arranged coincident with the aperture 0. in the slide I and the notch m in the slide H when the said slides are in their normal position. (Shown in Fig. 2.)

WVhen the handle K is moved in the direction indicated by arrow in Fig. 1 without a coin of proper denomination being deposited in the chute Q, the slideI will be simply moved forwardly, but no cigars will be ejected from the machine. When, however, a coin is deposited in the chute Q and assumes a posient-er the opening 2: in the said slide.

tion in the slot 0. of slide I and on the end walls of the notch min slide H, the movement of the handle K will, through the medium of the shaft J and arms L, move the slide I forwardly, and through the medium of the said slide I and the coin will also move the slide H forwardly, so as to carry the cigar in the frame 10 of the latter slide off the platform 0 and effect the discharge of such cigar from the machine. When the slide H is moved forwardly, as described, it will rock the bellcrank lever M and through the medium of the same raise the agitating-slide G until the inclined upper side of the weight it thereof rests at the lower edge of the openingp in the partition B, when another cigar will pass through the openingp into the throat D to take the place of that ejected, and the cigars will be agitated so as to insure the delivery of another cigar to the throat D on the subsequent operation of the machine. The coin will be carried forwardly with the slides HI, and then when the handle K is moved in the direction opposite to that indicated by arrow and back to its original position the slides H and I will be moved back a certain predetermined distance, when the slide H will be stopped. The slide I will, however, continue to move in concert with the handle, and by so doing will carry the coin 0d the stopped slide H and drop the said coin into the moneydrawer A. The automatic stoppage of the slide H incident to its rearward movement is effected by the spring-pressed lever S, (best shown in Fig. 7,) which has a toe arranged to On the forward movement of the slide H the toe of the lever S enters the openingz in said slide, and then when the slide is moved rearwardly the toe of the lever engages the front wall of the opening ,2 and holds the slide against rearward movement until the shaft J has turned sufficiently far to enable the slide I to move the coin elf the slide .H and drop said coin in the drawer A. Then an arm T on shaft J engages the rear arm of the lever S and disen gages said lever from the slide H, with the result that the weighted slide G, operating against the bell-crank M, forcibly moves the slide H back to its normal position. When the slide H is thus forcibly impelled in a rearward direction, a lug U thereon engages a spring-hammer V, and after pressing said hammer backwardly releases it and permits it to swing forcibly against a gong W, with the result that notice is given of the operation of the machine.

In order to effectually prevent backward movement of the handle K until after the same has moved forwardly sufiiciently far to eject a cigar from the machine, the construction best shown in Fig. 8 is provided. This construction com prisesa toothed segment X, fixed on the shaft J, a lever Y, fulcrumed at an intermediate point of its length and backed by a spring, so as to normally engage the toothed segment, and a spring-backed lever Z, which is notched, as shown, to receive one end of the lever Y. By virtue of this construction when the handle K is moved in the direction indicated by arrow the lever Y, engaging the teeth of the segment, precludes retrograde movement of the handle until after it has completed its forward movement. When, however, the lever has completed its forward movement, the portion Z of the seg ment X engages the lever Y and forces one end thereof into the notch in the lever Z. The lever Y is thus held out of engagement with the segment X until the handle K is returned to its normal position, when the portion Z of segment X engaging the lever Z disengages said lever Z from the leverY and restores the latter to its normal position in engagement with the segment X.

Z is a spring which is connected to the back wall of the case and is provided at its three ends with a coin-support Z When the slides H I are moved forwardly, as before described, the spring Z operates to carry the coin-support into a position below and in alinement with the coin-chute Q, and by virtue of this if a coin is placed in the chute while the slides H I are .in their forward position it will be held by the support. When, however, the slide I is returned to its normal position it engages the spring Z after the manner shown in Fig. 2 and presses the support back and out of alinement with the coin-chute, so as to permit the coin to drop into the slot a in the slide I and on the end walls of the notch 02 in the slide H, which assumes its normal position immediately after the slide I.

Z is a spring connected to the platform 0 or the depending flange thereof and also connected to the slide H. This spring is preferof iron or any other device except a coin of the denomination which it is designed to receive.

I have entered into a detail description of the construction and relative arrangement of the parts embraced in this the preferred embodiment of my invention in order to impart 'a full, clear, and exact understanding of the same. I do not desire, however, to be understood as confining myself to such specific construction and arrangement of parts, as such changes or modifications may be made in practice as fairly fall within the scope of my claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

1. In a coin-controlled vending-machine,

the combination of a slide, a shaft having a handle, means interposed between the shaft and slide, for moving the latter, an articleejecting slide, means whereby the articleejecting slide and the first-mentioned slide may be connected by a coin, an agitatingslide, and means interposed between the article-ejecting slide and the agitating-slide for transmitting motion from the one to the other.

' 2. In a coin-controlled vending-machine, the combination 'of a slide, a shaft having a handle, means interposed between the shaft and slide for moving the latter, an articleejecting slide, means whereby the articleejecting slide and the first-mentioned slide may be connected by a coin, an agitatingslide weighted and adapted to facilitate'the discharge of cigars, and a bell-crank engaging the article-ejecting slide and having one of its arms or portions disposed below the agitating-slide.

3. In a coin-controlled vending-machine, the combination of a case, a receptacle for articles to be vended arranged in the case, a throat arranged in the case, a partition interposed betweenthe throat and the receptacle and having an aperture connecting the same and arranged in a plane abo ve the lower wall of the receptacle, a platform disposed below and coincident with the throat, an agitating-slide arranged parallel to the said partition-wall and adapted to facilitate the discharge of articles through the aperture therein, a transverse s haft journaled in the case and having a handle, a slide I disposed at right angles to the agitating-slide, and connected with the shaft so as to be operated thereby, an articleejecting slide, means whereby the slide I and the article-ejecting slide may be connected by a coin; said ejecting-slide having an open frame at its forward end adapted to normally rest over the i I form, and a bell-crank engaging the a ejecting slide and having one of its arms or portions disposed below the agitating-slide.

4. In fa coin-controlled vending-machine, the combination of a slide, means for actuating the same, an article-ejecting slide, means whereby the article-ejecting slide and the first-mentioned slide may be connected by a coin, automatic means for stopping the arti-' ole-ejecting slide incident to the rearmovement thereof, and means operated by the means for actuating the first-mentioned slide for releasing the article-ejecting slide after the first-mentioned slide has moved rear- Wardly beyond said article-ejecting slide.

5. In a coin-controlled vending-machine, the combination of a slide, a shaft having a handle, means interposed between the shaft and slide for moving the latter, an articleejecting slide, means whereby the articleejecting slide and the first-mentioned slide may be connected by a coin, a lever backed by a spring and adapted to engage and momentarily stop the article-ejecting slide on the rear movement thereof, and means on the tag shaft for disengaging the said lever from the article-ejecting slide.

6. In a coin-controlled vending-machine, the combination of a case, a receptacle for articles to be vended arranged in the case, a throat also arranged in the case, a partition interposed between the throat and the receptacle and having an aperture connecting the same and arranged in a plane above the lower wall of the receptacle, a platform disposed below and coincident with the throat, an agitating-slide arranged parallel to the said partition-Wall, and adapted to facilitate the discharge of articles through the aperture therein; said agitating-slide being weighted and provided with an opening the lower wall of which is inclined downwardly and forwardly, a transverse shaft journaled in the case, and having a handle, a slide I disposed at right angles to the agitating-slide and connected with the shaft so as to be operated thereby, an article-ejecting slide, means whereby the article-ejecting slide and the slide I may be connected by a coin; said ejecting-slide having an open frame at its forward end adapted to normally rest over the platform, a bellalso arranged in the case, a partition inter posed between the throat and the receptacle and having an aperture connecting the same and arranged in a plane above the lower wall of the receptacle, a reciprocatory slide for accelerating the discharge of articles from the receptacle; said slide being arranged parallel to the partition and having an aperture the lower wall of which is inclined downwardly and forwardly, and coin-controlled means for actuating the slide.

8. In a coin-controlled vending-machine, the combination of a case, a receptacle for articles to be vended arranged in the case, a throat arranged in the case, a partition interposed between the throat and the recep tacle and having an aperture connecting the same and arranged in a plane above the lower wall of the receptacle, an agitatingslide weighted and adapted to accelerate the discharge of articles from the receptacle, an article-ej ectin g slide arranged to receive from the throat, a shaft journaled in the case and having a handle, means Wherebythe shaft and the article-ejecting slide are connected when a coin of proper denomination is deposited in the machine, and a bell-crank fulcrumed on the shaft and engaging the article-ejecting slide, and arranged to engage and to be engaged by the agitating-slide.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

DON E. CODY.

Witnesses:

, GRAF'roN L. MoGILL, I OhH. RAE-DER. 

